Hotline: Why Michigan State will win it all

Here goes nothing, with the possibility of nothing being applied in the most literal sense.

I picked upsets, lots of 'em, early and late, in all four regions.

My reasoning: Now that Michigan State is fully healthy, I consider the Spartans the team to beat.

They have NBA talent in the backcourt and frontcourt, more than one way to score at the end of the shot clock, and a HoF coach; and they're comfortable playing/grinding in half-court situations.

Their No. 4 seed is as meaningless as any I can remember because so much of the season was spent without their full complement of players.

But beyond the Spartans ... because of the back injury to Kansas center Joel Embiid ... and because the most talented team (Kentucky) is so erratic ... it's a toss up.

There is little to differentiate the next 8-10-12 teams. Heck, there's little to differentiate the next 20-24 teams.

(And the No. 1 and 2 seeds aren't as stocked with NBA talent as you typically find on the top seed lines, which could make for chaos throughout the tournament.)

I like Louisville, but the Cardinals aren't as good as they were last year (and didn't get the same test in the AAC as the Big East).

I like Arizona, but the Wildcats take questionable shots at crucial times and are awful from the foul line (No. 305 in Division I).

I like Wichita State, Florida and Virginia: They all play well together and are perfectly capable of winning four games.

But they won't ...

SOUTH

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First round: Albany over Mt. St. Mary's.

Second round: Florida over Albany, Pittsburgh over Colorado, VCU over Stephen F Austin, UCLA over Tulsa, Dayton over Ohio State, Syracuse over Western Michigan, New Mexico over Stanford and Kansas over Eastern Kentucky.

Third round: Florida over Pittsburgh, VCU over UCLA, Syracuse over Dayton, New Mexico over Kansas.

Sweet 16: Florida over VCU and Syracuse over New Mexico

Elite Eight: Syracuse over Florida.

Bottom line: Syracuse regains its mojo in time to win the region: The Orange have an elite point guard, they're big and they're awfully tough to play (because of the zone)

EAST

Second round: Virginia over Coastal Carolina, GW over Memphis, Cincinnati over Harvard, Michigan State over Delaware, North Carolina over Providence, Iowa State over NC Central, St. Joe's over UConn and UW Milwaukee over Villanova.

Third round: Virginia over GW, Michigan State over Cincinnati, Iowa State over North Carolina and St. Joe's over UW Milwaukee.

Sweet 16: Michigan State over Virginia and Iowa State over St. Joe's.

Elite Eight: Michigan State over Iowa State.

Bottom line: Really like the Cyclones and was considering them as a Final Four team before the brackets were unveiled, but I can't bring myself to pick them over MSU.

WEST

Second round: Arizona over Weber State, Oklahoma State over Gonzaga, Oklahoma over North Dakota State, san Diego State over New Mexico State, Nebraska over Baylor, Creighton over UL-Lafayette, Oregon over BYU and Wisconsin over American.

Third round: Oklahoma State over Arizona, Oklahoma over SDSU, Creighton over Nebraska and Wisconsin over Oregon.

Sweet 16: Oklahoma State over Oklahoma and Wisconsin over Creighton.

Elite Eight: Wisconsin over Oklahoma State.

Bottom line: Oklahoma State was a preseason top-10 team that got derailed midseason, but the Cowboys were good enough to go to overtime with Iowa State (twice) and Kansas, and they beat KU down the stretch. But Travis Ford vs. Wisconsin's Bo Ryan is a coaching mismatch in the Badgers' favor.

MIDWEST

First round: Cal Poly over Texas Southern, NC State over Xavier and Tennessee over Iowa.

Second round: Wichita State over Cal Poly, Kentucky over Kansas State, NC State over St. Louis, Louisville over Manhattan, Tennessee over UMass, Duke over Mercer, Texas over Arizona State and Michigan over Wofford.

Third round: Kentucky over Wichita State, Louisville over NC State, Tennessee over Duke and Michigan over Texas.

Sweet 16: Louisville over Kentucky and Michigan over Tennessee.

Elite Eight: Louisville over Michigan.

Bottom line: Would not be surprised if any of five teams won the brutal Midwest, and I can't say that about any other region. But the Cardinals are good enough at both ends to navigate the turbulence.